Council on American Islamic Relations, press release, 28 August 1995

WASHINGTON, D.C. (August 28, 1995) - On Monday, August 28, several
national Islamic organizations held a news conference in Washington, DC, to
call for an Justice Department investigation into the recent arrest of Imam
Jamil Al-Amin. The groups represented at the news conference included The
Islamic Society of North America (ISNA), American Muslim Council (AMC), the
Muslim Public Affairs Council (MPAC), and the Council on American-Islamic
Relations (CAIR). Imam Al-Amin was also in attendance. The joint statement
released at the news conference read as follows:

"We the undersigned American Muslim organizations wish to express our
deep concern over the recent arrest of Imam Jamil Abdullah Al-Amin, one of
the Muslim community's leading figures. The manner of his arrest for
aggravated assault and the events that have transpired since the arrest
indicate that there is apparently much more to this incident than has been revealed
so far. We have several questions about the handling of this case:

1) Why were agents of the FBI, the FBI's Domestic Counterterrorism Task
Force and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms involved in a
case that the police themselves described as a 'routine aggravated assault?'

2) Why was the victim in this case, as he himself has stated and The
Atlanta Journal reported, threatened with legal charges if he failed to
identify Imam Al-Amin as his assailant? And why did authorities refuse to
accept the victim's repeated statements that he did not see who the assailant was?

3) Why would the authorities in Atlanta wish to implicate Imam Al-Amin
in this case?

4) Why was Imam Al-Amin arrested weeks after the alleged incident, even
though he is easily accessible to law enforcement officials at his
public place of business? Why was he arrested in his car and not called in
for questioning at police facilities?

These and other questions must be answered by those who in a position
of authority over those involved in the incident. It is with this goal in
mind that we call upon the Justice Department to initiate an immediate
investigation into this matter and to report its findings to the
American public."

On August 7, Imam Jamil Abdullah Al-Amin, formerly known as H. Rap
Brown, was arrested in connection with a July shooting. At the time of the
arrest, law-enforcement authorities, including the FBI's Joint
Counterterrorism
Task Force and Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms (ATF), claimed the
shooting victim had identified Imam Al-Amin as the assailant.

The shooting victim, who attended the news conference, now says he does
not know who wounded him and that the police pressured him into making the
identification. News articles in both The Atlanta Journal and
Constitution and The New York Times quote the shooting victim as saying he
repeatedly insisted to the police that he did not see who shot him and that
it was
the police who first presented him with the name and photograph of Imam
Al-Amin. The alleged complainant also said he was threatened with legal
charges
if he did not agree to identify the Imam as the person who shot him.

Imam Al-Amin became a Muslim in the 1970s and has lived in Atlanta for
the past 19 years. He is the Imam, or leader, of the Community Mosque in
that city. Imam Al-Amin is also recognized as one of several national
leaders in the American Muslim community.